Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this follow-up to Neil Sedaka's Waking Up Is Hard to Do, Sedaka fils re-imagines his father's 1961 hit "Calendar Girl" as the story of a boy who hatches a dinosaur egg in his bedroom in January and revels in the ups and downs of the creature's companionship for the rest of the year: "March, at least eight times a day he's got be fed./ April, when he sleeps with me he crushes the bed." There are rumblings that this relationship can't go on forever ("August, the cost of groceries is bleeding us dry") but the duo shows no signs of breaking up (a la Danny and the Dinosaur). Bowers (Dream Big, Little Pig!) works in lusciously hued, brushstroke-textured spreads, and his comedy is nicely underplayed-Dinosaur Pet is a well-meaning, eager-eyed behemoth who's game for vigorous tooth brushing and wearing a King Kong mask at Halloween, and who tries his best not to smash up the house with his enormous tail. The text isn't much without the accompanying music CD, which has an infectious piano shuffle and Neil Sedaka sounding as boyish as ever. Ages 4-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Neil Sedaka's son has given the song "Calendar Girl" (Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield) humorous new lyrics. Casey expresses his feelings for his newly hatched dinosaur: "I love, I love, I love/my dinosaur pet./Yeah, sweet dinosaur pet./I love, I love, I love/my dinosaur pet./Each and every day of the year." As the months go by, he describes the dinosaur's growth spurts and huge appetite. "February, his body's starting to swell. March, at least eight times a day he's got to be fed. April, when he sleeps with me he crushes the bed." By the end of the year, the boy comes to a rather troubling realization about his dinosaur's massive size, but the love he feels for his new pet inspires him to celebrate and perform a song on his piano. Bowers's cheerful illustrations show a child enjoying everything about having a pet, including the increased responsibilities.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Sedaka takes his songwriter dad Neil's classic "Calendar Girl" and rewrites it as a boy's ode to his pet dinosaur ("January, he's breaking out of his shell / February, his body's starting to swell," etc.). Marc doesn't have his fathers polish, so the accompanying CD (performed by Neil) is essential to finding the text's rhythm. Bowers hits the expected notes: slapstick and sight gags. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Sedaka rewrites "Calendar Girl" for the Stone Age set. Neil's son, Marc, reworks the lyrics of his father's famous song. Endpapers show a happy little boy sliding down a dinosaur's tail, and title page depicts him lugging a big purple egg down the street as a puzzled pooch looks on. "I love, I love, I love / my dinosaur pet," the text begins, offering 13 additional bright two-page pictures (one for each month and a bonus). In January, the egg hatches: "[H]e's breaking out of his shell." Then February: "His body's starting to swell." (He's bright green with purple stripes.) And so it goes through the year, with the dinosaur growing bigger and bigger. In April, "when he sleeps with me / he crushes the bed." In July, "like the fireworks, / he touches the sky." September, "just the tail alone is / thirty feet long." And December, "come the new year, things are / gonna get rough." The final picture has the little boy seated at a piano, which the dinosaur is large enough to wrap all the way around, head and tail crossing. The dinosaur, the illustrations and the book itself are all appropriately big, and it's hard to beat the catchiness of the tune. The accompanying CD features this track for children and two more all performed by Neil Sedaka. Sure to get toddlers and early readers dancing. (Picture book. 3-5)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
